Time to get the Jersey taxpayer out of the racing business

Horse racing, New Jersey’s welfare sport, is dying, but Democratic legislators — nostalgic about the good ol’ days when the sport printed money — want to prolong its life. And they plan to use more taxpayer money and new gaming revenue as the respirator.

This year, Monmouth Park’s losses were $6.6 million. The Meadowlands Racetrack, meanwhile, bled another $11 million. Horse racing continues to be a losing proposition — with no profitability in sight.

Racing has been propped up by roughly $180 million in casino subsidies since 2004 and tens of millions more from taxpayers. Instead of planning for the future and using that money to downsize and build off-track wagering sites that would be generating cash today, lawmakers and the sports authority twiddled their thumbs.

Now, with the state in crisis and horse racing unable to support itself, the governor wants to end the bailouts. Those procrastinating politicians are screaming — and concocting ways to raise money.

A commission, appointed by the governor and led by Jon Hanson, recommends that the sport become self-sustaining by 2012. It proposes consolidating racing at Monmouth Park, closing the Meadowlands, and selling Monmouth Park and off-track wagering licenses located throughout the state. Proceeds could be used to pay off nearly $80 million in Monmouth Park debt (and other sports authority debt) and get the state out of a failing industry.

The Democrats, with help from some Republicans, want to throw good money after bad. They want to keep both tracks open while streamlining operations — a savings of just nickels and dimes. They want to loosen the rules to allow exotic betting, a move that might help marginally, if at all.

The heart of their plan is to continue propping up race with outside revenue. With the casino subsidies about to expire, they want to support racing with more off-track wagering sites (most likely built by the state at approximately $5 million apiece), new intrastate internet gambling and, if allowed by the courts and passed by the voters, legalized sports betting.

Under a bill proposed by state Sen. Ray Lesniak, internet gambling could pump an estimated $35 million to $100 million into racing. Lesniak says the money would be “a bridge” until racing can support itself.

But ask yourself this: If New Jersey can raise that much money with internet gambling, why should the proceeds go to the racing industry at a time when we are firing teachers and cops, cutting property tax rebates and excluding low-income families from health care programs? Is it really the state’s role to underwrite dying industries?

The other big idea from racing supporters is to allow slot machines and video poker at the racetracks, and maybe even a casino at the Meadowlands, again diverting some of the take to sustain horse racing. But that’s not going to happen, and it should not, while Atlantic City is on life support, hemorrhaging jobs. More competition could accelerate that decline.

Yes, without subsidies, horse racing could die quickly and that will unfortunately lead to the loss of jobs and revenue. It’s a pity it’s come to this, that smart adjustments weren’t made as the decline began. But racing can’t be a state-sponsored jobs program.

And fears horse farms will soon be replaced by strip malls are overblown. Most horse farms are not tied to racing. And many millionaire farm owners will find another way to make money off their open land without selling it.

The Hanson Commission points to the only sober answer — it gets the state out of a dying sport quickly. Racing must stand on its own. Lawmakers had better hurry to pass the legislation needed to implement it, because the finish line is rapidly approaching.